Decided to cut the hearth bricks in a circular shape. In contrast to Paulages, I will be placing my soldier course on TOP of this hearth. Because this whole thing sits on Perlite, I will be able to insulate it completely (bottom, sides and top) Aiming for quick heat up times, by using 2.75" inch wall thickness... Hope to retain the heat by insulating it to the hilt...

Thanks for the detailed Photos Pete I am just in the design phase Like the round idea Fudugazi

Marcel

10-31-2005 08:18 AM

Kiwi Pete: A fine builder!

#63

(M) Wow! From nowhere to half finished; and done with great workmanship!
Congratulations, Peter. It seems everything is perfect to this point.

(M) Did you have any difficulty posting all those images at one time onto this forum? ____

(M) I see that you also went my route and have no concrete blocks above the wood storage area. Since your oven will be only 36" you are probably OK with leaving out the steel bar at the span. I'll assume you put some re-bar there anyway, or ? ___

(M) Glad to see you tried the perlite on top of the thermal layer. The thin coat of mortar to provide a smooth surface was also a good idea.

(M) From the photos it appears you didn't split your particle board supporting the hearth slab. If not, do we assume that you will simply leave it under the slab? ____

(M) How did you manage to cut the curves in your circular igloo floor bricks so well? ________

(M) Keep those great photos coming. It really looks Terrific!

Ciao,

Marcel

paulages

10-31-2005 11:50 AM

Quote:

Have decided to go for a very low profile oven: 36" diameter, 15" height.

these dimensions shouldn't be a problem. mine is 42" x 17.5". i like the low ceiling, and wouldn't mind having it a bit lower even.

looks great, by the way. are your dome bricks going on top of your floor bricks or around them? i'd recommend on, but at this point, you must have cut your bricks according to plan. if you're going around, give yourself a bit of gap around the floor. i was worried about ash buildup, but now i know that that was a pointless worry. at the very least, ash buildup will help insulate those cracks, and i think it's important to have that room for thermal expansion of the floor.

james

10-31-2005 02:13 PM

If you put the dome around the oven, it will perform better thermally -- as the heat from the floor will move into the dome, not out the side.

As Paul says, the gap between the floor and dome is important for expansion and contraction, and it just fills up with ash, which isn't a problem for cooking.

Looking good!

James

paulages

10-31-2005 03:39 PM

yeah, actually i agree with you james...i reccomend putting the dome around the floor rather than on, and the thermal value is why i did it. but i did want to make sure that he or other people know that cracking of the dome is possible if a large enough gap is not provided. one crack in my dome may have been due to a little too tight of a fit, but then again, it's still standing and cooking fine.

KiwiPete

11-11-2005 06:15 PM

I haven't done a lot of work on my oven over the last couple of weeks because of time restraints, but am now getting back into it.

I have started to construct the opening (see pic below), but wouldn't mind getting some feedback: the opening is 16" wide and 9" high (at its highest point). Is that still workable to move stuff around in the oven?